So, here it was Saturday afternoon, and I had nothing to do. I hate when race season is over, it takes a week or 3 for me to acclimate to having time to myself on Saturdays. Of course there are “hunny-do lists” I should be tending to, as well as a plethora of preparations I should be doing to prepare for next weekend’s adventure to Maine.
So what do I do? Yup, screw everybody, Im’s a goin riding ! The sun is out, the sky is bright blue, the KLX has a fresh tank of 93 Octane, and If I leave now, nobodys gonna notice till I am outta cell phone range !!


So, I know y’all must be a bit sick of my power line runs, and quite frankly, I am a bit sick of them also. I wanna do some miles this time, see the state a bit. Now, I know the scenery around here, is, , , um, , , ,well, , , , Frankly, not really very scenic. There are no majestic mountain vistas here, no sweeping plains, no grand gorges, hell, there aint even anything but plain old backwoods country bumpkins riding around on, on, on, well, whatever the hell these things are?

So, I figured I could go poke around the reservoir, see what I could find out there. My ancestors were displaced when the area was flooded, and my Dad and Grandad often spoke about all the mills and assorted towns that got submerged after the dam was built. I remember hearing about some old rail lines that use to go behind his house, so I decided to start scouting them out.
The roads out around the reservoir are really nice this time of year, the trees are starting to change to the classic yellows and gold’s, and the occasional reds scattered in there.

I knew there was a dirt road that headed off into the woods, and from previous excursions I knew it trickled down into a path. That’s a great place to start looking for the old railroad bed.


A couple miles in, and the road starting to shrink down

I got to the end, and there is room to turn a car around, but look, over there……. I see a trail !! Guess where we are going now ? A-yup, deeper baby !!

Ok, so it don’t look much like a trail anymore,

But wait, there’s more

Looks like I found the old rail bed. NICE !! Aint been many anybodys in here lately !!

Using your imagination of course, you can almost feel what it was like 100 years ago, this was an active rail line, and the villages around here had a good amount of people coming and going.

I have to try to find some more old maps, but I think this was part of a causeway that crossed over an old dam, these old mill towns were very well designed and built back in the day, the old Yankees really got a lot down with very little.

Looks like that guy is smiling big, perhaps cause he knows the hunny-do list has been put off until another day !!

The trail is slow riding today in here, its an old path, with lots of branches and assorted rocks and stuff in the trail, you can tell no one has paid any attention for a long time. After a slow 6 or 7 miles, The path gets a bit wider and I find this.

A-yup, it runs into one of the tributaries that feeds the main reservoir, and it has a run down, abandoned dam over there. Trail ends, find a new way out.

DAM, I hate when the trail goes around a corner and I find this

I guess they don’t want me to go around it and find this nice view !!

So I find my way around the water, and notice the trail is getting wider.

Alright, I can get there from here, or get here from there, or , , , , , , , or so I thought

OK, bang a quick right, poke through the woods, making my own little trail, and I am out again, back into the old part of the town. I figure I will follow up on a few satellite observations, and see whats out there.

 

Just as I thought

A deserted part of an old Nike site, from back in the cold war days. Kinda cool, but kinda spooky.

I dunno, maybe some people like checking this out, an maybe some of us don’t, but I do get a kick out of finding roads like this

Now I am off, and there is a real road out of here, after this of course

Sneak around another gate, pick my way along a nice little dirt trail

that turns into a road, and I am OUT !! And this road looks like its gonna be fun !! Must be election year, new pavement !!

Soon I am back on the main roads, and the shadows are getting long, time to take one last look at the (non) scenic views




Maybe its not so bad when race season is over.

 

looks like sum fun exploring to me! thanx for sharing

 

Great pics , great write up. I'm always afraid if I go around a gate like those, a half mile down the road I'll come around a corner to see some shack and a crazy guy with a rifle that thinks I'm from the IRS. Ha ha thanks for posting

 

Very nice!! was that really an old missile site? wouldl be cool to go in there and look around.

 

those are the best rides... just ride, and see where ya end up.

 

Good story and pics.
Thanks.

 

Yea, the little voice on my shoulder is always whispering, "go baby, see whats behind the gate, see whats over the next hill", the one on the other shoulder is always saying stuff like, " your a responsible adult" "you know better", blah-blah,blah. I usually dont go past gates, however this time I new the property was city owned water supply land, and I know I aint suppose to be there, but neither is anybody else, so that kind of eliminates Bubba in a rocker with a 12 gauge, this time.
I do worry, and If I aint sure, I usually dont go past them, unless I have a wingman, then we usually figure, " WTF, cant shoot both of us, can they?" !!

Its fun just poking around aimlessly. I put on 70 miles, and it was so relaxing, so enjoyable, its really what I missed most about riding on 2 wheels.

 

Yes, it was part of the old NIKE missile sites, I think its pretty deserted, its from post WW-2 I think, they were scattered all over the Northeast. Its kind of weird around there, its very dilapatated in there, and all the holes (bunkers) (?) are sealed with cement and lots of overgrown brush and trees around there. I aint much of a ghost hunter or nuttin, but when I stopped to take a few pictures, it was rather chiiling around there, strange vibes, I pulled the lid back on quick, and kept moving. Dont wanna get tagged a terrorist or anything. . . . . .

I am kind of ignorant to the facts surrounding it really, I just remember my pops, and grandpops talking about it, and recall years ago as a youngster them taking me in there on a snowmobile, (67 sno-jet). My understanding is the old civil defense system was located in strange out of the way places, and from what I recall hearing, there was more to it, radar stuff, and perhaps command/control systems, I know the housing was several miles away and is now all private ownership. But you can tell its old military stuff just by looking at it.
It really piqued my interest again, so I am gonna do some research and ed-u-ma-cate myself a bit, and surely will end up out there agin before the snow flys !!

 

That sounds like an interesting place to explore.

I have the same dilemma when deciding whether or not to ignore a sign or gate.
Mostly I don't blatantly go where I know I am not supposed to.
But there is some ambiguity when riding a bike that is registered for the road.
It gives you a lot more freedom in where you can and can't ride.
Not all the signs apply to us.